Filipino leader, Duterte rejects lecture from Obama

Philippines leader Rodrigo Duterte had better watch his back.

Philippines
leader calls Obama ‘son of a b****,’ rejects lecturing from US on
human rights

In
an acid comment, Philippines leader Rodrigo Duterte called Barack
Obama a “son of a b****,” warning the US president against
lecturing him over the Philippines’ human rights record in its
brutal war on drugs at a global summit in Laos, where the two are set
to meet.

“Son
of a b****, I will curse you in that forum," the
acid-tongued Duterte said before departing for Laos, where the
Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) is hosting a meeting
of global leaders, including the US and Russia.

The
statement came in reaction to the information President Obama was to
address the alleged extrajudicial killings during the anti-drug
campaign in the Philippines that has already claimed 2,400 lives.

Speaking
to journalists on Monday, Duterte insisted he was “a
president of a sovereign state” and
that his country has “long
ceased to be a colony of the United States."

“I
do not have any master except the Filipino people, nobody but
nobody,” Duterte
went on to say, also cautioning other world leaders about addressing
the issue of the anti-drug campaign in his country.

The
Philippines president was set to meet with Barack Obama on Tuesday,
but the talks have now been canceled. According to Ned Price, a
spokesman for the US National Security Council, Obama will meet with
his South Korean counterpart, Park Geun-hye, instead.

Earlier,
the US leader said he ordered his team to look into whether
a “constructive,
productive” dialogue
would be possible with Duterte under the circumstances.

"I
always want to make sure if I'm having a meeting that it's actually
productive and we're getting something done," Obama
told reporters in a press conference following the G20 summit in
China.

"The
issue of how we approach fighting crime and drug trafficking is a
serious one for all of us. We've got to do it the right way," he dded.

Rodrigo
Duterte came to power in May, promising to wipe out drug dealers and
put an end to the problem in his country. According to the latest
police figures cited by AFP, since June law enforcers have killed
1,011 suspected criminals, with an additional 1,391 “deaths
under investigation.”

The
approach gained vast support among the average public, however
raising concerns from political opponents, human rights groups and
the US in particular.

"More
people will be killed. Plenty will be killed until the last pusher is
out of the streets. Until the [last] drug manufacturer is killed, we
will continue and I will continue," Duterte
said Monday.

The
Philippines leader is notorious for his inflammatory comments. On one
occasion he also called Pope Francis “a
son of a b****.”

During
the presidential election campaign that brought him to power, Duterte
also lashed out at the US ambassador to the Philippines, calling him
a homosexual.